Cloning Conflict
by Shikon-no-Sakura
Summary: /RE-DONE/When a young Uchiha Madara time travels to the Fourth Shinobi War, he causes the fabric of time and space to disappear; and many clones begin to appear. He befriends Haruno Sakura, the original one, and falls for her. While fighting for her love, he is immediately faced with the destruction of timelines which if he doesn't resolve - there will be no future for Shinobi.
1. Prologue

Name: Cloning Conflict

Genre: Romance, Adventure, hurt

Rating: T

Pairings: MadaSaku, SasuSaku, SaiSaku, other Canon pairings. Also, a little bit of NaruSaku (Although it isn't the Romance pairing that I ship)

Author: Shikon-no-Sakura, GoldenFlameAlice (same person)

* * *

Prologue

* * *

This story is about a girl, a girl I met while travelling through time. I considered her as a hero, a hero who – no matter how hurt she would get – would risk her own life for those she held dear in her heart. She was loud, cheerful, and strong willed but also quite oblivious to the feelings that many held for her.

Including me.

* * *

"Let's play a game." The oldest Uchiha brother bounced off of the broken section of wall he had been sitting on when a clearly formulated plan sprouted in his mind. His long black hair flew up in the air before settling messily over his shoulders and to the middle of his back.

"Aren't we a bit too old for that?" The younger brother reasoned, raising his right eyebrow questionably. His shoulder length hair blew in the wind as he lent backwards, heaving a loud and ignorant sigh to express his boredom. "Can we not just train instead, Madara?"

"Nooo, what's the fun in that?" Madara complained, waving his hand up in the air and his eyebrows knitting together. "You're just as boring as Grandma Uchiha's baby ninja turtles, Izuna." He accused his brother, knowing he hit a sore spot when Izuna showed his classic petty lip.

"Okay, fine." Izuna sighed. "So, what are we doing then?"

"I call it Operation Sakura! We need a break from Clan business." He pointed out into the blue cloudless sky. "We can use the Jutsu again; to get out and see the world, meet some cute girls…what do you say?" Madara exclaimed, looking more and more confident that his plan will work.

Izuna sweat dropped. "Is meeting girls the only answer to everything when you want to use that Jutsu?"

Madara sighed and sat against the wall again, looking up into the sky. "Look, Izuna." He rested his head in his hands, leaning on his knees. "I don't want to get married to a woman I don't know, and more importantly - don't even like. Before you know it; they'll force you to marry into a strong Clan as well – like the Hyuga – so they can build their Uchiha super army."

Izuna laughed bitterly. "You say that like fate is a bad thing."

"It can be."

Izuna thought for a moment, looking at his brother. He knew that Madara wasn't happy with the life he was living, which is why they always spent a few hours at night away from their time period to go to another. It kept him happy for a little while, but he was never fully satisfied and a smile never stayed on his face for long. "Pack an emergency kit and set for the border at 3 am tonight. We'll leave then."

'That's it Izuna, this will be the getaway we'll never forget.' Madara thought as he watched his younger brother head towards the Uchiha district and out of sight. 'This time I'll find someone I want to spend my life with, I promise.'

* * *

This is the story of how I time travelled, so I could find the woman I love.


	2. Chapter 1

**3:10 am**

 **60+ years into the future**

In the middle of the clearing, sparks of lightning formed out of no where – if one were to witness this with their own eyes; it would seem as if someone with water and lightning Chakra nature had used this specific Jutsu. A watery mirror had formed in mid-air that rippled when a human hand burst from it. The hand was dripping of a silvery paint substance, before it fully materialised into the world. After a few moments, the full body stepped out into the open.

When the paint-like substance dripped off, but never left a trace behind from where it dropped, Madara stood singularly in the clearing and took in a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, red veins popped up around the whites of his eyes. He first wiggled his fingers, rotated his wrists, and stretched outwards before he even began to notice his brother materialising beside him.

The first thing that Madara sensed when entering in this world was the putrid stench, and the extensive Chakra patterns wavering through the air – snuffing out like water to flame every second that he stood still.

"Brother…?" Izuna whispered, beside him.

When Madara finally opened his eyes, he saw Izuna who looked forward with fear stricken eyes. Madara turned his head sideways, and eventually noticed the bloody end to a battlefield.

It was ugly.

For a moment, the older brother strode on – his sandals slightly nudging aside the human carcasses that littered the whole area. Sometimes he knelt down and tore the sleeves from the shoulders off some of them, only to quietly point out a peculiar and recognisable tattoo on their right upper arms.

"Some of them are Leaf Ninja, like us, but their headbands are not recognisable." Madara stood up and observed the clearing. Looking at some of the disfigured and terrifying faces of the recently deceased, but these things never fazed him – he was a master of swords and death. "Actually, there are Ninja from different villages here but they all bare the same headbands. 'United'…"

"Uh, brother?" Izuna spoke inaudibly behind him, they both felt it before they saw it; a brilliant blue and red explosion erupted in the distance. The loud rumbling could possibly be heard across the country.

Madara stood back, marvelling at the mushroom shaped smoke cloud that followed. After a second, he whistled. "I credit the people who caused that. Magnificent…"

"How do you know that it was more than one person who caused it?" Izuna asked after he rolled his eyes at his older brother.

"Simple, I've engaged with Hashirama like this before in the training ground. Why do you think that they have to keep moving the location of them?" Madara answered. "It's impossible for this much power to belong to just the one man."

'I'm guessing vacation has ended then.' Izuna sighed and blinked once, his pupils diluting to a blood red colour. He knew full too well that Madara cared more for a fight than relaxation, or women for that matter. "It seems to have died down now, do you think they are dead?"

Madara snorted. "Presumably." He pulled at the ends of his gloves; letting them snap against the skin on his wrists. Izuna looked at his brother, knowing exactly what the sudden glint in his eyes meant. "The fun is just about to start, Izuna!"

Before Izuna had the chance to protest to tell Madara not to interfere, his brother had already ran off towards the smokey cloud.

* * *

Dust floated in the air, the explosion caused the earth to quake; for a girl to finally wake up from the genjutsu cast upon her, for two boys – both extremely exhausted and covered with bruises around their eyes – to finally fall from the air, not even able to summon the strength to prevent the bone breaking fall that they were to face in just a few seconds.

They both landed with a splitting crunch flitting through the air, and the groans from the both of them couldn't even start to explain the pain they were presently in. Maybe they were finally going to die, just like it had been prophesied – the battle that would kill them both.

They both immediately fell unconscious, waiting for death to take them.

Water tumbled down the cliffside like a white stream, the sound was calming to the ears of the boy that was just waking up and a slight spray from the waterfall made his face glisten.

"…Ugh." The black haired boy grunted as he came to, his eyes twitching as he tried to force them to open. "Ouch..."

"Finally awake, huh?" A voice murmured from beside him, neither of them moved an inch. "Sasuke."

Sasuke roamed his eyes over to the blonde-haired boy, noticing the black swollen eyes and the scrapes and bruises. The tears of his clothes and the bloody mess where his arm had been only hours before. His eyes widened as he looked down over his own body, the same bloody mess applied with him and just as his rival beside him – one of his arms was a bloody stump.

"It's just as you see it." The blonde hummed, barely even moving his mouth to speak. "If we move too much, we'll bleed to death."

Sasuke turned his head very slowly so he partially faced the blonde, and then chuckled with a painful sound vibrating in his throat.

"Just look at you…Why do you insist on getting in my way?" Sasuke rasped.

The blonde stared up into the sky, watching how beautiful the moon seemed to be with its brightness – with life.

"I…fell into the darkness…and gained powers to cut everything in my way." Sasuke sighed. "It didn't matter who it was…I tried to cut the ties I had with everyone around me." His eye twitched. Remembering the numerous times that his old team tried to track him down but failed to ever bring him back home. "No matter what happened…Why do you care so much about me!?"

The blonde laughed. "Don't you already know? Heh, look at you, talking so much now just cuz you can't move."

"Just shut up and answer me!" Sasuke yelled.

The blonde shifted his eyes to look at Sasuke, his left eye lazy. "That's because you're my friend."

Sasuke glared at him, frustrated. "You've already said that once. What does that mean…to you?"

The blonde was silent for a while before he spoke. "I'm not really sure how I should explain it to you…It's just that when I hear you blabbering about carrying everything on your shoulders.." He smiled. "I can kinda…feel the pain too."

Sasuke stared at him in surprise, wondering how the other boy could even carry the same burden he has had to all his life.

"It hurts so bad that I just can't ignore you. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the kid of the Fourth Hokage…I'm the kid who had to bear the burden of Kurama, I felt so alone when the Akatsuki came after me; It frustrated me…I thought because my dad was the Fourth Hokage, a hero, that I was able to take on that pain without a second thought…Sometimes I thought that I should just give up, but…I know I couldn't…because it means that my promise to Sakura-chan would mean nothing, that I'd never be able to bring you back home with that kind of mindset…That's why I tried to bear the pain myself."

Sasuke continued to watch, wide eyed. He had never considered this with Naruto before, maybe because he never had the time or never was interested, but for the first time; he truly felt connected to him and wanted to listen to him.

"It really hurts. There's no way I can just ignore it!" Naruto seethed through his teeth, looking away from Sasuke as he closed his eyes.

 _Naruto…_

 _I already knew that in the past, you were always alone._

 _Like me, the last Uchiha left in his own clan, you were cast out by everyone._

 _But unlike me, you acted like a total idiot on purpose so that people would scold you, because you wanted them to pay attention to you…at first I thought you weren't worth considering at all. That you were just a weakling playing around…_

 _but..after seeing you do stupid things and getting scolded for it every time..I started to keep my eyes on you._

 _That time I also realized…That your weakness had started to sink into me too._ Sasuke heaved a sigh. _When I saw you doing everything you could to create a keep bonds with others…It reminded me a lot of my family. For some reason, I felt relieved._

 _But I also thought it was a weakness and I trained hard to try to escape from that weakness…_

 _To become stronger than my brother, and take my revenge…But you ended up in the same team as me, you and Sakura, and I was reminded of what it felt like to be cared for, what it felt like to be close with people again._

 _I did missions together with you, while you kept going on and on about how you wanted to become the Hokage…and as I felt us growing stronger together…_

 _I soon realized that I wanted to fight you someday._

 _Then, I started to see Team Seven as somewhat like my family, and when I saw you suffer..I would feel the pain too._

 _When I understood your pain, that's when I first thought of you as a friend._

 _But in return…as I saw you grown exponentially strong, I couldn't ignore you any longer. You had a strength that I lacked. The way I saw it, you were always walking in front of me._

 _Just like my brother did…_

 _And the same is true today._

 _You-_

Sasuke finally felt a pain shoot through his head as he fainted once more.

* * *

"Are we nearly there Izuna?" Madara asked as they ran through the rooftops of the forest they were just in. Madara couldn't check himself, he wasted so much Chakra using the Dimensional Jutsu that he could barely even sense any Chakra in the air, or even barely managed to stable his footing on each tree branch that stuck out.

"Nearly, the Chakra signatures are wavering very dimly now…it's hard to even get a clear sense for it right now…" Izuna answered, and then he heard a hard thud on the ground. When he turned around, Madara was on the ground, all dirty and with a few scrapes from how he fell, and panting hard. "Big brother!"

"I'm fine…" Madara grunted, trying to pull himself up from his elbows. He shook, until he fell again.

"That's it, we'll rest until morning." Izuna stated, helping his brother shift his weight until he sat him against a tree. "I'll be right back; I'll look for some firewood around the area."

Twenty minutes later, Izuna came back with a pile of firewood that he held steadily in his hands even though the load reached to bellow his chin. He quickly glanced over his shoulder at his older brother when he threw the pile on the ground; he was already fast asleep, it looked very peaceful but he never snored. Izuna smiled inwardly, as he used his Fire Ball Jutsu to light the fire before he walked over to his brother and lay on the ground in front of him.

"Good night, brother."

* * *

"Ugh." Naruto grunted, scrunching his eyes together. The sound awakened Sasuke beside him. "I don't feel the pain anymore…Where are we? Don't tell me it's heaven…?!"

"Looks like we've slept until morning." Sasuke said beside him. "Once again you're still alive."

"Ugh shit! I still can't move!" Naruto cried. "You know, I wanted to punch you until you opened your eyes once and for all!"

Sasuke chuckled, it sounded weird coming from his lips as he burst into outright laughter. He hadn't laughed properly, light-heartedly, in such a long time. "Hahahahahahaha!"

"W-What?!"

Sasuke grinned. "Do you still want to fight in your condition…?"

"Of course! I'm not giving up…" Naruto stared angrily, yet determined at his former team mate.

Sasuke stared at the sky for a moment. "I'll accept it…"

Naruto looked at him, wide eyes. "Huh?"

"I…lost." Sasuke admitted sincerely, looking back at Naruto.

* * *

Above the cliff, a man and a young woman jumped into view. The grey-haired man held her around the shoulders, steering clear from the nasty burn on her arm as she held onto his waist with her left arm.

He heaved a sigh as he looked despairingly at the two men laying at the bottom of the cliff. "So, they came up here."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Emerald eyes fixated on him, her voice reassuring.

"It's okay, Sakura. Go to them."

Without a moment to lose, she set down the cliff as fast as her feet would take her.

* * *

It had already been a few hours since the two Uchiha brothers had woken up, they had started on their way again but it grew much more difficult to find the spot where they were headed. Izuna couldn't get a good reading from the Chakra signals in the air; it seemed as if everything about this area had died. Even the trees, imbedded with Chakra themselves; seemed to be drained of life.

Then Madara could sense a very sudden flit of Chakra, his senses becoming aware again from his rest.

"So, they came up here." A male voice followed.

"Do you hear that?" Madara asked in a low voice, carrying himself up the rubble of the two statues that had once, previously, been magnificent. When he rested himself at the top, he finally saw the issue.

Two boys, possibly a few years younger than him, had lay at the bottom of it all; beside each other waiting for rescue. He noticed that their arms lay stretched beside each other, but the bottom half of their arms lost in the explosion that erupted yesterday. Now they had only stumps above the elbow, and the blood that soaked the ground beside them suggested that if they had hands; they'd be holding each other for support.

A girl with pink hair raced down the cliff to be level with them, she looked slightly dishevelled. Madara noticed her outfit, realizing she was a Chunin who must have lost her green flak jacket in the process of whatever happened here. Her black sweater had been tore from the shoulder and an ugly scar spread over her upper right arm. Otherwise, she was actually quite beautiful.

"Sakura-chan!" The blonde shouted.

Not answering him, and walking the little distance left between them; she knelt down and put her hands over their stumps. Blue Chakra emitted from both of her hands, healing the two of them at the same time.

"Thanks Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, smiling at her in gratitude. The smile looked out of place on his bruised and swollen face.

"Sakura…I…" Sasuke began.

"Don't." She said quickly, not looking at him. "Don't…I need to concentrate now."

' _Sakura, huh?'_ Madara thought with interest.

"I'm sorry." He finished.

"Sorry? For what?" She asked, surprise clear in her voice but also sadness.

"For everything up until now." He answered. She looked at him, trying to search for the sign in his eyes if he was lying; but there was none. He looked at her with regret, as if he had finally realized his mistake.

' _Naruto, thank you…_ ' She thought, as she wept a single tear. "You better, geez." She shook her head and clenched her teeth. "You are so much trouble…stupid…"

Madara swung his legs around and threw himself off from where he was sitting, Izuna sat there in panic and after a second; followed. Madara landed beside the three, marvelling over the young female as she looked at him sharply.

"We were just in the neighbourhood and thought that you would need some help." He said, rolling the words off his tongue. "But looks like you don't need any, and here I thought I was going to have some fun if there was a war."

Kakashi swiftly jumped down with haste, a kunai held protectively away from his chest as he glared at Madara and Izuna. "The war has just ended, and we don't want any trouble."

Madara huffed a fake loud sigh. "A shame."

"Identify yourself." Kakashi pressed.

"Me?" Madara pointed a thumb towards himself. "I'm Uchiha Madara, and this is my brother Izuna."

The both of them watched as the four ninja looked at them both with wide eyes, a mixture of sadness and hatred.

Madara just stared at them, confused. "What?"


	3. Chapter 2

The place was dark and dank, there was a small window viewing the outskirts of the prison and into the streets – although there wasn't much to see because of the downpour of rain. It was also unbearably quiet, the only sound was the slow dripping of droplets of water falling from outside, and into the dark room; already making a pool on the floor.

It got to a point when Madara wondered if they were going to let him out of this place – or if they were just going to leave him to drown if the water level got high enough for him to stop breathing.

He was tied to the wall by chains, strange like markings circled around his bare chest which cut off access to his Chakra – although just enough to keep him breathing. If he tried to even use one Jutsu, although he wouldn't since he couldn't even bring his two middle fingers together never mind his two hands, he'd probably die.

Not like that would have bothered him though, but he still thought he had more to live for than a controlled life and a death inside a place that refused the sun.

"Uchiha Madara." A calm voice began from behind the bars, free of imprisonment, that Madara actually felt so weak that he hadn't even _felt_ this guy coming. The white mask he wore held red markings, resembling somewhat like a bear, and he wore a white cloak. "You have an audience with the Hokage."

For a few minutes, there was shuffling of feet and his hands were held firmly at opposite sides; if he squirmed or tried to get out of it he'd simply get severe rope burn as it was tied so tight he could barely breathe. Next, they tied a piece of cloth firmly around his head which covered his eyes and dragged him clumsily yet forcefully out of his cell until he finally smelled fresh air.

He sighed in relief when he felt the cool droplets of rain falling onto his forehead, his arms, and his legs. Completely soaking him until it was practically uncomfortable to walk anymore.

"Sai!" A loud female voice called from the distance. "Could you _not_ let the Uchiha die _before_ he reaches the tower?!"

"Sakura." The guy beside Madara, presumably Sai, spoke back calmly to her. "You were specifically told to stay away from him."

"Do you think I care?" She cried, her voice getting closer. "You guys need to take better care of your prisoners, even if they are traitors!"

' _Traitors?'_ Madara thought.

"I'm a medic so I won't be letting the person in question here die when I know I can help, so whether you like it or not-" Madara felt the strong grip of soft hands on his shoulders and he soon was dragged far away from Sai, who didn't make much of a fuss in the matter. "I'll be taking him to Lady Hokage and Kakashi-sensei!"

After a while of walking, they both stopped in their tracks. The silence between them was unbearable that Madara couldn't take it anymore.

"Uh, are you-" Madara started, but was cut off by the sudden abruptness of her pulling up the cloth from his eyes and meeting her brilliant green orbs for the first time. It was the face of a young adult, beautiful and her shoulder length pastel pink hair accented the rest of her face. The diamond that rested on the middle of her head radiated intense Chakra, which he found pretty remarkable.

"I thought it was you, but I wasn't so sure before." She began. "But you really haven't changed at all; shouldn't you be an old man by now?"

Madara sweat dropped. "I'm not old; I'm probably only three years older than you."

"Not what I meant." She said as she cut away the ropes that bound his arms to his chest, she watches as he stretched carefully. "I met you when I was a little girl."

* * *

" _Come on Izuna!" Madara called back to his brother, his eyes full of joy and excitement. "If you don't hurry, then we'll never get to try anything!"_

" _You do know that you can just time travel back in time to see everything, right?" Izuna groaned, helplessly getting dragged along by his brother through the streets of Konoha. Filled with tall buildings, and rock-faces, and many festivals – the place seemed livelier from what it was like back in their own era._

" _Sakura-chan? Aren't you coming?" A little boy, barely looking as if he was six years old, spoke out to the crying girl on the stairs; leading up into another household like the many ones the two brothers had passed already. His black bangs loosely hung just above his eyes, and his clothing seemed simply black; but with the Uchiha crest on the back._

 _When Madara noticed this, he grabbed Izuna and shoved them both behind a small shop curtain so that the youngsters couldn't notice them._

 _From the corner of his eyes, Madara noticed the little girl shaking her head roughly. Her pastel pink hair was tightly held back into a very short ponytail, and her little green kimono framed all of her body and hiked up slightly around her knees._

" _What's the matter?" He little boy asked, impatiently._

" _Sasuke." A figure that Madara hadn't noticed sat next to the little girl, he sounded stern; as if he knew exactly why he was crying._

" _What?" Sasuke groaned, pulling a pout. Then looked at the young pink haired girl, who's mouth was slightly agape and her cheeks were very red from all her crying._

" _Mommy and D-Daddy promised they'd take m-me…" She sniffed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "They promised!" She rested her head on her knees, so that the two boys could not see her crying._

" _Excuse me." Madara started, walking over._

" _Madara, wait!" Izuna cried._

" _I couldn't help but over-hear your problem and then leave a little girl in distress." He smiled sweetly at her when she finally looked up with her big glassy eyes. "I'll help you bring your parents back, little one."_

 _She rubbed at her eyes again. "You will…?"_

 _Madara nodded and kneeled down in front of her. "So, I want you to enjoy yourself," He took something from his pocket and gave it to her. "I won this charm, but it's not really my style." He pulled out a nice little necklace with a circular looking ring charm, was a nice ruby red colour. "I want you to keep it, so that you won't forget my promise…"_

* * *

Just like you promised, you brought my parents' home; you saved their lives.

I didn't see you again after that night…

But then-

* * *

" _Sasuke-kun!" A twelve year old girl called out, her long pink hair dancing behind her. She stopped, the sun beating down onto the ring around her neck and glistened over the figure she thought was her class mate. "Wait…you're not Sasuke-kun…"_

" _You sound disappointed." Madara turned around, and smiled at her._

 _Her eyes widened. "Mister! It's you!" She cried, but he just looked confused at her. "Have you forgotten about me already? Shame on you!" She pulled on her necklace and took it out from underneath her clothes._

" _Ah, the little girl." Madara said, patting the top of her head._

" _I'm not a little girl anymore!" She pushed his hands away from her and stumbled on her feet, falling to the ground. "Ouch!"_

" _Not a little girl then," Madara stated, kneeling down to her. "But a silly girl."_

" _I have a name you know! It's Sakura!"_

* * *

"Ah!" Madara sighed excitedly. "So, it's silly girl!"

"I told you that's not my name!" She cried indignantly, her cheeks turning red. "It's Sakura!"

He chuckled at her defensive response and silence fell upon them again.

"I can't believe that your actually Uchiha Madara, I never actually imagined that you'd come back." She said, with a sigh. "Which is why I didn't hesitate when I had to battle with your reincarnated body in the Fourth Shinobi War-"

"Was I devilishly handsome?" He asked suddenly.

"Is that all you care about? Geez!" She yelled, her eyes growing wide with frustration. "You're not even the slightest bit worried that we kicked your ass?!"

"Uh, no. Since I wouldn't be able to feel it anyway." He answered. "So, are we going to head to the 'Hokage' or are we just going to stand on the middle of this roof top being show ponies for the people looking at us below?"

Sakura looked down, seeing that all the villagers within their proximity were – evidently – looking at them both. It all looked kind of weird if you considered the fact that he was shirtless, and she was causing a racket.

She glared at him finally, before she grabbed his arms behind him and forced him forward.

* * *

 _Sakura sat on the stairs of her house that night, getting a nice night breeze as she looked down at her necklace. 'Did he really not know he gave me this, he gave me a relationship charm?'_

 _She remembered the sign when she walked past it later on in the evening with Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi._

' _Relationship Charm:_

 _If a man gives a relationship charm to a woman, it means that he is proposing.'_

' _Does it mean that he wants to marry me when I'm older?' She thought, and then shook her head roughly._

" _No way! He's far too OLD!" She cried, causing a small bird to fly from its nest on the gutter. She watched as it flew away into the dark sky._


End file.
